BOSS CROSS OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT SINCE '92, FORMER NFL AND TV STAR IRV CROSS IS TACKLING SPORTS AGAIN AS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT IDAHO STATE

You couldn't blame the folks at Idaho State for thinking theletter was a joke. The author wrote that he was interested inapplying for the athletic director's job, and it was signed byIrv Cross--the same Irv Cross who was a mainstay on CBS'spopular The NFL Today after spending nine seasons as a defensiveback in the NFL. Idaho State officials passed the letter around,and each had the same reaction: Why would he want to come toPocatello?

Cross had asked himself the same question when he saw IdahoState's help-wanted ad in The NCAA News last January. Sure, hehad wanted to get into sports management for a long time. ButPocatello? Isn't that rather small potatoes for a guy who usedto exchange quips on Sundays with Phyllis George, BrentMusburger and Jimmy the Greek? "I looked at my wife," saysCross, "and I said, 'Pocatello, Idaho? Where in the world isthat?'"

So Cross did his homework, just as he had when he was playingfor the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams in the1960s. In those days he kept index cards on every receiver hefaced. By the time he wrote to Idaho State, Cross knew a lotabout the job. He knew that the Bengals' athletic departmentneeded to find new sources of income. He also knew that the twomain revenue-producing sports--football and men'sbasketball--had been tarnished by low graduation rates and highcrime rates. Still, he wrote. "I like the challenge of goinginto a program where they need some help," he says. "They've haddisciplinary problems and trouble with their image. Besidesthat, being in a university environment excites me. I'm one ofthose guys who is always looking for a way to improve himself."

Cross's background with the NFL and CBS and his strong belief inthe value of education impressed the Idaho State searchcommittee. "He's just so full of ideas and has contacts that noone else has," says Diane Bilyeu, the Bannock County assessorwho chaired the committee. "Only once in a lifetime do you havean opportunity to hire an Irv Cross. This will help not only theuniversity but the whole state."

On March 1, Idaho State hired Cross for $89,900 a year, eventhough he had no experience in athletics administration. AndCross took the job, even though he is black and Pocatello,Idaho, is almost completely white. Only 356 blacks--more thanhalf connected to the university--live in the town of 53,903.But Cross, who grew up in the segregated America of the 1950s,is prepared for whatever awaits him. "My parents always told methat when you go someplace, act like you belong and people willaccept you," says Cross, still optimistic at age 57.

Cross, who was one of 15 children, grew up in Hammond, Ind., andearned a football scholarship to Northwestern. He played wideoutunder coach Ara Parseghian and in 1959 caught the winningtouchdown pass in a 30-24 upset of Notre Dame. He was alreadypreparing for life after football by then: As a senior hesupplemented his degree in education with public-speaking courses.

In the NFL, Cross let his play speak for him, and he more thanheld his own against top receivers such as Bob Hayes, HomerJones and Del Shofner. After being hit by Cross several timesduring a game in 1965, Jim Brown said, "No one in the leaguetackles harder than that Cross." Cross's mentor, both infootball and broadcasting, was Eagles defensive back TomBrookshier, who went on to a long career as a CBS commentator.In 1965 Brookshier said of Cross, "He's the best one around athis position. He has wonderful football sense."

While with the Eagles, Cross worked as a drive-time radio sportscommentator and a weekend TV anchor during the off-season. Aftera three-year stint with the Rams, Cross returned to the Eagles,in 1969, as a player-coach. He retired from playing after oneseason, but he stayed on as a coach. In 1971 he faced a toughdecision: Should he accept Dallas Cowboys president TexSchramm's invitation to join the Cowboys' front office or sayyes to CBS's offer to become the first black sports analyst onnational television? "At that time there wasn't that much blackinfluence in the front offices of the NFL," says Cross. "I wouldhave been an experiment. It was a pretty daring thing for theCowboys to do. But I took a shot at TV--how smart was that? Myexcuse was that I had been a defensive back, and I'd been hit inthe head a lot."

During his years with CBS--he worked in the broadcast booth forfour seasons before joining The NFL Today team in 1975--Crosspaved the way for other African-American sportscasters. He wasalways true to himself. In his first season on The NFL Today,CBS wanted him to dress for the show in a leisure suit with hisshirt open halfway down his chest and a gold chain around hisneck. "I was supposed to be the sex symbol," says Cross. "Irefused. Vigorously. Finally [CBS sports chief Bob] Wusslersaid, 'Aah, just dress the way you feel comfortable.' I wore acoat and tie. That was me."

When CBS fired Musburger during the 1990 NCAA Final Four, Crossfigured that his days with the network were numbered, too. Sureenough, that fall the network moved Terry Bradshaw and GregGumbel into the studio and demoted Cross to game analyst. In thespring of '92, CBS Sports president Neal Pilson informed Crossthat he wasn't going to renew his contract. Cross offered totake a pay cut, but the network wasn't interested.

Cross didn't immediately pursue another network job, nor did anyof the other networks pursue him. "I didn't have an agent, and Ididn't search for a TV position as aggressively as I shouldhave," he says. "I just quietly faded away. I finally got aroundto calling the guys at Fox and Turner, but they didn't seem tohave any need for my services." For the four years betweenleaving CBS and accepting the Idaho State job, Cross was aconsultant in the Leesburg, Va., office of Smith Barney, Inc.,where he dealt primarily with cities and individuals interestedin financing new stadiums and arenas. He stayed involved withfootball as a part owner of the CFL Baltimore Stallions.

Cross and his wife, Liz, and their two children, Matthew, now 7,and Sarah, now 5, lived on a farm in Markham, Va., about 50miles from Washington, D.C. It was an idyllic existence in manyways, and Cross understands that he's taking a risk by leavingit. Liz is white, and some might wonder how an interracialcouple will be received in Pocatello.

"My wife is the one who encouraged me to take the job," saysCross. "She said, 'You've always dreamed of being in sportsmanagement--let's do it.' All my life I've been the only blackin my classrooms or the first black to do this or that. I amconcerned a little about how my kids will be accepted. But ourkids always have had a different take on the world. We treatpeople fairly, and we expect to be treated fairly."

In Pocatello, Cross takes over an athletic program with 14varsity teams, seven for men and seven for women, and a budgetof $4 million. The Bengals compete in Division I in every sportbut football, in which they're in Division I-AA. They aremembers of the Big Sky conference, which recently lost BoiseState and Idaho to the Big West. "We plan to be the anchor ofthe Big Sky," Cross says. "I'm excited about it. We have tobuild up morale, we have to have winning teams, and we have tomake sure our kids get their educations."

And that is the answer to Why Pocatello? The need for goodleaders and good work is at least as great at Idaho State as itis at Penn State or Florida State or any other school.

Last October five football players pleaded guilty to misdemeanorbattery. At one point during the basketball season five of IdahoState's 12 scholarship players were ineligible for disciplinaryreasons. Cross, a man of such decency and courage that he once,along with fellow broadcaster James Brown, apprehended twoteenage muggers in New York City's Central Park, promises to befirm in dealing with those transgressing the rules and the law.Behind the easygoing demeanor and megawatt smile that becamefamiliar to millions of television viewers, Cross is as tough ashickory.

"When Cross says something, it will mean something to ourathletes," Bilyeu says. "His belief that education is the mostimportant thing--that's what really sold the committee. Ourexpectations were high before he got here for his interview, butwhen we interviewed him, he was even better than we anticipated."

Cross's arrival at Idaho State coincides with what could be abreakthrough season for the Bengals. Coach Brian McNeely, who isstarting his fifth year in Pocatello, has slowly built IdahoState into a contender for the Big Sky title. Cross's firstorder of business will be to help generate enthusiasm for theteam and fill the stands. He also hopes to boost donations tothe school's athletic-scholarship fund from $400,000 per year to$1 million. "People in the community have to know that we wantthem and need them," he says. "I want to tell people why it's agood investment to support Idaho State athletics."

Cross is trying to lure George, his former colleague, to IdahoState to tape some TV spots for the Bengals. Irv and Phyllistogether again. In Pocatello.

COLOR PHOTO: RICH FRISHMAN [Irv Cross]COLOR PHOTO: COURTESY OF PHYLLIS GEORGE Once a hit as a talking head, Cross is the talk of Pocatello as head of sports at Idaho State. [Phyllis George, Brent Musburger and Irv Cross]COLOR PHOTO: RICH FRISHMAN [See caption above--Irv Cross]